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Hey, I just purchased an ibook G4 on ebay realy cheap. It was sold to me with a display problem and I thought I might be able to fix it. Sometimes the display will work and sometimes not. It works completely fine with and external monitor.
Can anyone help me pinpoint the cause of this? Could it possibly be just a loose connection?
Any help is greatly appreciated

It could be either a loose connection on either side .. up in the lcd cover or
on the system board.. when the lcd does not look like its working is it just the
backlight? can you see faint images or windows open? could just be the
connector to the inverter.

Or it could be a damaged ribbon cable for the display the best place to start
IMO is the lcd chassis .. this is easier to get to than the logic board.

it is 4 screws (allen screws) and very carefully with a spuger (I use a credit
card that has been cut up .. don't need those things any way) go along all
of the edges to release the back cover. Once that is off you can remove
the foil tape to view the connector to the lcd itself. Be careful not to put
any pressure on the top of the lcd .. apparently there are very sensitive
components in that area.

If that still gives you no joy ... you may have to tear in to the logic board or
do further investigation on the lcd or inverter. I definitely would recommendiFixit: iPod, iBook, & PowerBook Parts and Accessories this is how I first found out how to tear down the iBooks
Warning any of this is time consuming and very frustrating .. so be prepaired
and have patients.. and a lot of time set aside to do this.. Paper to map out
where your screws go and a good set of jewelers tools help..